72 MONDAY 2ND NOVEMBER DAY 16 We go to the frontier to change some dollars. The only cambio was on the Bolivian side, so we walked across to a collection of ramshackle establishments—shops, baños, bars and a collection of dejected lorry drivers waiting for clearance. Only one money-changer was operating with a stack of notes three feet long. She had a stall open to the elements,which you would expect to be selling chiclets or batteries. We crossed a pass at 5000m and dropped down for lunch. Charlie felt bad. I thought it was probably altitude sickness. He had lost his appetite, felt nau- seous, had a bad headache, couldn’t focus and was slurring his words. We have to get down below 8000'. Dave drove all afternoon past a beautiful salar which would have made a wonderful painting and carried on down through miles of rip rap road at a slow pace. There is dust everywhere and an utterly bleak and featureless brown/grey desert. We descend to the town of Pica where we found a campsite with trees for shade, tables and toilets for £3 a night. We erected our tents and drank a couple of beers. Charlie recovered quickly, confirming my diagnosis, so the party cheered up considerably. WEDNESDAY 4TH NOVEMBER DAY 18 VALLĖE DE LA LUNA I travel to a spot with a view of Leconcabur across some rocks and desert, drank tea and started work. I worked doggedly until 5:30 when my mates arrived. They took me to see a site they had scoped. We climbed the ridgeline to the SW until the view ahead was a jumbled mass of ridges and dunes and sand but when I turned round WOW—a stunning view of cliffs, rocks, ridges, dunes and a distant volcano. It looked straight out of National Geographic! THURSDAY 5TH NOVEMBER DAY 19 A cloudless morning as I started drawing, gradually heating up, with no breeze, until where I sit is 110°F. I am perched right on top of a narrow ridge with a vast and complicated view before me. By lunchtime, the drawing is finished. FRIDAY 6TH NOVEMBER DAY 20 I stand the drawing board in a fragment of shade and paint a rudimentary cirrus sky, which took until tea break. Considering the small size of this painting, it involves an awful lot of detailed work. I work until lunch when a charming Chilean couple came by and chatted. He said I was the new Marianne North and I wonder how could he have known about her? SATURDAY 7TH NOVEMBER DAY 21 We are to be at the entry gate to ALMA at 8:45 so we rushed breakfast, washed, packed, loaded the truck and managed to arrive just in time. At the security gate, Raul escorted us through. We drove up to 10,000' to a series of new buildings holding admin, hospital, workshops and offices. A health check was performed to see if we were suitable to go to 16,500' (5000m). Luckily, despite last night’s alcohol, we were all passed fit. The purpose of all these enormous astronomical dishes, as far as I could understand, is to discover more about our galaxy using micro and sub-micro waves—wavelengths never before used—which are revealing information about the makeup, life and death of the galaxy. In collaboration with Europe, US and Japan, the Chilean government is building a substantial facility with 50/60 gigantic dishes. The machines for moving them are immense, with 16 sets of 4 enormous wheels that can be steered individually. All the dishes were brought by road from Arica. The complexity of such a task is mind boggling. Once bolted down, the dishes are coordinated using the world’s largest supercomputer. After our tour, we were loaded into a van, donned our boots and down jackets, given an oxygen cylinder and whisked up to the bleak plateau at 16,500'. It was freezing cold, despite a superlatively clear sky. A howling wind quickly whisked away anything not secured. Back to Calama, we arrive at El Hotel del Desierto at 5:00. We have a wonderful shower, a change of clothes and a beer—all those great luxuries! As a veteran of these times of re-entry into civilisation, I know what to expect—it feels as if somebody has switched off the engine and let all the air out. I feel as if I could sleep for a week. All the planning, all the activities of 29 day’s extreme travel, all the worries suppressed and the decisions that have to be made suddenly swept away to allow me, for the first time in months, to switch off. Chile Pacific Coast 22th October 2015
